Mysterious 'Error 53' is bricking iPhones, rendering them useless
Thousands of iPhone users have been left with bricked devices after having their home buttons repaired by non-Apple authorized technicians.
The Guardian on Friday reported on the issue, known as "Error 53" that apparently affects the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus.
See also: Apple will finally let you cash in your broken iPhone
The basic problem happens if you get your iPhone's home button repaired anywhere other than an Apple Store or Apple-authorized repair center. If the home button — which includes the Touch ID sensor — is replaced, you run the risk of getting a dreaded "Error 53" on your phone.
What is Error 53? Well, it basically turns your iPhone into a brick. Why? Well it all ties into the Touch ID sensor on your phone.
What's happening
Each Touch ID sensor on the iPhone is paired with a specific iPhone, and it can't work with any other device. This is done to ensure the secure element of the chip, where Touch ID data is stored, can't be used with another piece of hardware.
This way, you know that if your home button is installed on another phone, any of the information or keys potential tied to that button won't be accessible anyplace else.
If you get your phone's home button repaired at an Apple Store or an authorized repair shop, everything is fine.
The problem occurs when an unauthorized repair center replaces a home button. At first, the phone might work — with everything, including Touch ID, seeming perfectly fine.
But as soon as you go to update to a newer version of iOS (or you attempt to restore your phone from a backup), the software checks to make sure the Touch ID sensor matches the rest of the hardware. If it finds that there isn't a match, your phone is basically bricked.
Apple has a whole page dedicated to Error 53 on its website.
The solution: Go to the Apple Store and pay for a repair. Out-of-warranty iPhone repairs cost $200 or more, depending on what's being repaired — a potentially expensive proposition.
In a statement to Mashable, Apple said:
For your own good?
On the one hand, verifying the connection between an iPhone and the secure element within Touch ID is very important. After all, if you're trusting your iPhone with your fingerprints and your banking information, you want to be sure that stuff is secure. And it's true that an unauthorized part could potentially undermine the Touch ID system.
On the other hand, this is a problem that has to be immensely frustrating for anyone just trying to get a simple phone repair. Moreover, it's not just users who replace the home button that are running into Error 53. Plenty of users on Apple's support forums have mentioned that having a screen replaced (a very, very common off-market replacement) has triggered the hardware check and resulted in an Error 53 scenario.
For most users, take this as a warning that if you do need to get your phone repaired, head to the Apple Store. The problem — as The Guardian points out — is that not every country has an Apple Store or an easily accessible Apple authorized repair center.
That puts users in an uncomfortable situation if something does go wrong with their phone.
